I'm glad to hear that PICNIC ON THE BATTLEFIELD (2010, Thianchai Isaradej) will be restaged again.

What I like very much in this play includes:

1.Its reflection on the important situation which happened several months before. I think it is important that some art works (films, plays, poems, etc.) talk about this issue. This is a very sensitive and controversial issue. I think it takes a brave man like Thianchai to talk about it via his work.

2.The great performance of the leading actress

3.Its focus on the "the people who built the roads" or the working class.

4. The red underpants of some characters

5.Its tragic ending

However, there are a few things in the play which make me feel ambiguous towards the play, such as:

1.The presentation of the aid worker as someone who wants disasters so that he can get some benefits from it

2.The presentation of a journalist as someone who doesn't like smiling Thai people, but likes to see Thai people fighting each other, so that she can make some news reports

The Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen Directors who've influenced you and that will ALWAYS STICK WITH YOU. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. Tag fifteen friends, including me, because I'm interested in seeing what artists my friends choose. (To do this, go to your Notes tab on your profile page, paste rules in a new note, cast your fifteen picks, and tag people in the note.)﻿﻿﻿

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Dilma Rousseff may be the next president of Brazil. I like her biography very much:

"Dilma participated actively on any of the armed efforts of Colina, but she was known too for her public activities as a Marxism teacher to labour union members and editor of the newspaper The Piquet. She knew how to handle weapons, confront the police and also guerrilla tactics

The attorney which prosecuted the organization called her "Joan of Arc of subversion",

Dilma was taken to the OBAN headquarters, the same place were Vladimir Herzog would be tortured to death five years later. She was allegedly tortured for 22 days by punching, ferule, and electric shock devices. As Maria Luisa Belloque, a cellmate, said "Dilma was shock even with car wiring.""

Saturday, September 25, 2010

As for me, there are many things I like in this SENZA SANGUE, but there's one thing about it which may not correspond to my tastes—the heroine of this story seems to control her anger too well or can reconcile with the past too well for me to be able to identify myself with. Admittedly, I prefer films/stage plays about a heroine who is burning with the desire to kill or revenge, such as BREMEN FREEDOM (1972, Rainer Werner Fassbinder), THE BRIDE WORE BLACK (1968, François Truffaut), or BLACKBIRD (2007, Sasithorn Panichnok). SENZA SANGUE is a very good play, but it just does not satisfy the "fire" inside me.

Anyway, SENZA SANGUE is very thought-provoking, and there must be many things in this play which I have overlooked. I'm sure I will like it more when I read some reviews on it. :-)

Sunday, September 19, 2010

I would like to screen this film together with THE HIGH KUKUS (1973, James Broughton), BIRTH OF THE SEANEMA (2004, Sasithorn Ariyavicha), NO ONE AT THE SEA (Tossapol Boonsinsukh), PERU TIME (Chaloemkiat Saeyong), DREAM OF THE DEATH (Wiwat Lertwiwatwongsa)

Fred Kelemen gave a Q&A session in Bangkok, Thailand, on November 8, 2007, after the audience had watched the recording of his stage play DESIRE (2001), which is adapted from DESIRE UNDER THE ELMS (แรงโลกีย์) (1924, Eugene O'Neill). The audience included Sonthaya Subyen, Morimart Radenahmad, Pathompong Manakitsomboon, Sumontha Suanpolrat (the stage actress in the Thai version of THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT), Thanes Noonmun (the co-author of 151 CINEMA), Wilaiwan Praejaroen (the director of THE ARTIST'S FATE), and Roger Tonge (the director of the BBC gay film TWO OF US (1988)). I'm not sure who recorded this clip, but I guess it's Phaisit Phanphruksachat.

Sonthaya gave me a one-hour clip of this Q&A session, but I don't know how to split this video files. So I can upload only the first fifteen minutes of this clip.

3.HOW TO CAST MY DEAR FRIENDS? (Pichet Smerchua, 25 min, A++++++++++)เพื่อนรักเพื่อนร้าย (พิเชษ เสมอเชื้อ)I'm not sure if this film is a mockumentary or a documentary. I want to compare it with PRE-ATTITUDE (2010, Panu Saeng-xuto, documentary, A+/A), because both films are about Thai queers. The differences between these two films are the main reasons why I worship HOW TO CAST MY DEAR FRIENDS?.

I like it very much that HOW TO CAST MY DEAR FRIENDS? presents transsexual/transvestite and lesbian people in a very natural way. It doesn't try to treat these people with special respect like PRE-ATTITUDE. I think I prefer the way HOW TO CAST MY DEAR FRIENDS? treats queer people to the way PRE-ATTITUDE treats queer people. I don't know what the goal of HOW TO CAST MY DEAR FRIENDS? is. Maybe its goal is just to record some funny moments with queer friends. Whatever its goal is, I think this film is full of the beauty of life, the beauty of "human beings". This is the kind of queer films I want.

I think PRE-ATTITUDE is made with a very good intention. It wants to show the lives of interesting queers, including a respected village chief, and to treat some of them as if they are heroes or heroines. PRE-ATTITUDE is made for a noble goal, but the goal ends up draining the life, or the true beauty of life, out of the film. Everything in PRE-ATTITUDE seems to be made or selected to serve this goal. PRE-ATTITUDE may achieve its goal. But I prefer a film which shows us "something very human" like HOW TO CAST MY DEAR FRIENDS? to a film with a noble message like PRE-ATTITUDE, though I totally agree with the message of PRE-ATTITUDE. PRE-ATTITUDE is too goal-oriented for me that I feel the juice of the beauty of life, the beauty of human beings, has already been squeezed out of the film, just because this true beauty may distract the film from its goal.

The differences between HOW TO CAST MY DEAR FRIENDS? and PRE-ATTITUDE remind me of the fact that the kind of documentaries that I really like is MODERN LIFE (2008, Raymond Depardon, A++++++++++). I'm not sure what its goal is. Maybe its goal is to lament the old ways of living for farmers. But the most powerful scene in this film for me is the scene in which an old man stares silently into the camera for a long time. Does this scene contain any message? Does this scene correspond to my assumption about the goal of the film? Will the message of the film (if it has a message) be altered if this scene is cut out of the film? Maybe the message will not be altered, but the true power of this film will be much lessened if this scene is cut out of the film.

Some documentaries prefer to "observe and show". Other documentaries prefer to "tell". I prefer the first group of documentaries.

5.DADDY (Wachara Kanha, 9 min, A+++++)พ่อครับ ผมรักพ่อ (วชร กัณหา)This film is very touching for me. It's about a father who has a very serious financial problem, but he tries as hard as he can to support his son. The film is semi-autobiographical. And the problem is not solved at the end of the film, because this film prefers to reflect real life than offer some fake pleasures to the viewers. The film successfully avoids being too melodramatic or tear-jerking. I prefer DADDY to such films as THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS (2006, Gabriele Muccino, A).

I hate films which say, "You should love your daddy", partly because I almost have no knowledge about my own father. But DADDY doesn't send this message. DADDY says, "I love my own daddy", which implies that "what you think about your own daddy is none of my business." This is one of the reasons why I like DADDY very much.

I also want to add that I give B+ to DON'T FORGET TO HUG YOUR DAD! (กอดพ่อด้วยดิ) (2009, Pitak Ruangrojsin 3 min), because of my own personal reason stated above. I think DON'T FORGET TO HUG YOUR DAD! is a very effective film. It truly achieves its goal. The reason why I don't like it is just because its message contradicts with my own personal life. The film is good, but I just can't accept its message.

The film is very puzzling for me. I don't understand what happens in this film at all. But it has many strong, impressive images/scenes, including the ones in which the heroine vomits blood, the one in which the hero throws away a bottle, and the one in which the hero bathes in a tub.

9.M.A.M.A. (Katon Thammavijitdej + Chonlasit Upanigkit + Jarupat Lorissaratrakool, 18 min, A+++++)มาม่าใส่ไข่ (กตัณณ์ ธรรมวิจิตเดช, จารุภัทร ล้ออิสระตระกูล, ชลสิทธิ์ อุปนิกขิต)This film pokes fun at some characteristics often found in arthouse films, namely emotionless faces, eventless scenes, silent staring into the camera, slow-moving activities, and activities which may or may not have deep meanings. The funniest scene in this film is the one in which a character "moves" into the kitchen by twisting his legs in a strange way for no reasons at all.

12.BLACK AND WHITE (Wachara Kanha, 12 min, A+)มนุษยธรรม (วชร กัณหา)This film is adapted from a short story by Win Leowarin. What I like very much in this film is that it tells the story by voiceover all through the film, while it also shows very impressive images at the same time. If I remember it correctly, my most favorite image in this film is the image of a wall with some broken glasses on it. The broken glasses reflect the sunlight very beautifully.

I like the ending of this film very much. It doesn't end by having a father atone for his sin for neglecting his child or something like that. The father is really absent in this film. I'm not sure what the ending of this film means. But I believe that if your father doesn't care for you, you should just stop expecting him to care for you. Your happiness doesn't have to depend on whether your father will be there for you or not. The presence of your father is not necessary. The presence of your father is not important at all. The cause of the unhappiness is not the fact that "your father is not there". The cause of the unhappiness is the fact that "you expect your father to be there". If you just don't expect it, you can be truly happy. The ending of this film may not send this message, but at least it doesn't obviously contradict my belief. That's why I like it very much.

16.DAD IS DEAD (2009, Dhan Lhaow, 15 min, A+)พ่อมึงตาย (ธัญ เปลวเทียนยิ่งทวี)This is the second time I watched this film, and I like it much more than the first time, because this time it has subtitles. Some jokes in this film depend on choices of words, so if you don't understand what the characters are talking about, you may not understand the jokes. My most favorite scene in this film is the one in which a character (Alwa Ritsila) tries to have sex with a building by rubbing his penis against a wall.

This film also uses "unintelligible characters" in its subtitles from time to time. It is the third Thai film that I know which employs this technique. The other two films are BIRTH OF THE SEANEMA (2004, Sasithorn Ariyavicha, A+++++++++++++++), and PERU TIME (2008, Chaloemkiat Saeyong, 18 min, A++++++++++).

17.HUMANITY (Chotika Parinayok, 15 min, A+)มนุษยธรรม (โชติกา ปริณายก)Is this film directed by a female director? This film tells the same story as BLACK AND WHITE (Wachara Kanha). The main thing that I like in this film, which is not found in BLACK AND WHITE, is the desirable cop, and the film chooses to end by fulfilling the desire of the audience who likes this cop. Hahaha.

I like the way the hero says something at the end of the film very much. I think it is really like the way Thai teenagers nowadays speak. The hero of this film doesn't look like a hero at all. He looks very ordinary. And that's the main thing I like in this film.

I think this film is very well-made, though it is a little bit too melodramatic for me. I think it should be screened together with DIALOGUE ABOUT GOD (2010, M Fazrie Permana, Indonesia), and 0.29S (2005, Boonchai Kanlayasiri, 15 min), which also deal with a reluctant terrorist, though both DIALOGUE ABOUT GOD and 0.29S can avoid being too melodramatic.

The 14th Thai Short Film and Video Festival ended early this month. I regret it very much that I didn't see many films this year. Actually I didn't see many many Thai films which were made in the past 15 years. If I could turn back time, I would try to see many Thai films, including the films in the list above.

24.QUESTION OF LIFE (2010, Eisaraphong Kraichingrit, 31 min)เรื่องเล่า สายน้ำ และความตาย (อิศรพงษ์ ไกรชิงฤทธิ์)I can't remember exactly if this film has a ghost or not, but it has the atmosphere of a ghost film.

25.REMEMBER (2008, Tossaporn Riantong, 28 min)จำ (ทศพร เหรียญทอง)I can't remember exactly if this film has a ghost or not.

Monday, September 13, 2010

1. I worship the ending of LA CÉRÉMONIE. When I was a child, I couldn't bear watching some Thai TV series, such as BARN SAI THONG (GOLDEN SAND HOUSE), in which the heroine is too submissive. I couldn't identify myself with this kind of Thai TV series at all. When I grew up and saw LA CÉRÉMONIE, I got to understand what my dream version of Thai TV series should be.

2. I like it very much that the good girls usually die faster than the bad girls in his films, especially in LES BONNES FEMMES and POULET AU VINAIGRE. His films are not moralistic in the same way as most mainstream films.

3. I like it very much that his films contain the same elements found in most thriller films, but his films don't try to fit into the thriller genre. THE LITTLE OLD MAN FROM BATIGNOLLES (2009) is about a murder mystery, but the film doesn't try to create any suspense. The murder investigation in this film is presented as if it is just a leisure walk in the park, not a roller coaster ride in an amusement park like in most thriller films. THE COLOR OF LIES (1999) doesn't focus on who the killer is, but focuses on the consequences of suspicion in a village. THE FLOWER OF EVIL begins with a letter from a secret person, but the film doesn't reveal who this secret person is, because the film seems to focus on something else.

4. Morally-dubious main characters, such as the abortionist-heroine of STORY OF WOMEN (1988), which doesn't try to elicit as much sympathy from the viewers as VERA DRAKE (2004, Mike Leigh, A+).

5. His films explore the dark side of human beings, especially at the ending of PLEASURE PARTY (1975).

6. The slow-burning quality, especially in LA CÉRÉMONIE, PLEASURE PARTY, THE FLOWER OF EVIL, LES BICHES, THE COUSINS, and THE UNFAITHFUL WIFE.

7. His films thrill me with my own imagination, not what exactly happens in the films. While watching THE COLOR OF LIES, I almost had a heart attack watching Valeria Bruni Tedeschi confronting Sandrine Bonnaire while Sandrine is ironing some clothes. I thought that Sandrine might use her iron to kill Valeria in that scene.

8. LE BOUCHER seems to be a very immoral film, as immoral as THE STORY ABOUT YOU AND ME (2010, Alwa Ritsila), which also presents true love of psychotic persons. But the immorality of these films is what makes them interesting.

9. Are there any feel-good films made by Chabrol?

10. Strong female charactes, especially the character played by Suzanne Flon in THE FLOWER OF EVIL, the two female judges in THE COMEDY OF POWER, and the female inspector in THE COLOR OF LIES.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

This is one of my most favorite music videos of the year. I think it should be screened together with the film MUANG AKE 1579 (2006, Seri Lachonnabot, 29 min, A++++++++++), which also presents characters running for some obscure reasons. The drummer of this band said that she likes Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

THE RULE OF THE GAME (ตีไข่ใส่ฟองรัก: ความรักของตุลยา) (2010, Ninart Boonpothong, A+) is a very interesting political stage play. The heroine, who was born in 1973, has to choose between her experienced, adult husband who wants to "watch over" her, and her 17-year-old lover who wants to "be with" her. I give A+++++ to the ending of this play.

The Jim Thompson Art Center, in collaboration with Images FestivalPresent

THE SPACE BETWEEN TWO IMPOSSIBLE LANDSCAPES

This collection of recent and historical videos by six artists all use an electronically created image to depict various landscapes, geographies and architectures. These video simulacrum fracture and mediate the familiar—a sunset, a cabin in the woods, a mountainous terrain—into a disembodied space of memory and dream.

Apollo Shrapnel: Part 1Tasman Richardon, 2000, video, 4 minSounds and images created entirely using a hacked Atari 2600 creating a scrollinggeometric world of diagonal lines, blips and bleeps.

At the Heart of a SparrowBarry Doupé, 2006, video, 29 minAn episodic adventure highlighting the riff between mind and body. Through a series of animated narratives, role reversals and associations, images are driven out and stacked one on top another.

Through the HolesElizabeth vander zaag, 1982, video, 4 minThe process of using a macro lens to shoot the video screen enabled us to go beyond the primary content of television soap operas. By discovering the holes in the television screen grid, I find a freedom from the formal context of the medium.

Impossible LandscapesLeslie Peters & Dara Gellman, 2006, video, 12 minComposed entirely of found footage and manipulated found sound, Impossible Landscapes reveals a constantly shifting and fluid panorama of highly idealized and exaggerated terrains. Contemporary cinematic images of the natural landscape are envisioned as mutable sites of rapturous violence and ecstasy, where the ominous pervades beauty, benevolence is suspect, and narratives both real and imagined are intertwined.

As for MY HOME, I wonder why the film is proclaimed as a reaction to NO DAYS OFF by Eric Khoo. I like NO DAYS OFF very much, so I wonder what the director of MY HOME thinks about NO DAYS OFF. I think MY HOME should be screened together with JEANNE DIELMAN, 23 QUAI DU COMMERCE, 1080 BRUXELLES (1975, Chantal Akerman) and NATHALIE GRANGER (Marguerite Duras), because these three films deal with plotless activities of women.

Monday, September 06, 2010

This stage play reminds me of some recent Thai political short films, which seem to present ambiguous political point of views. But I give A++++++++++ to the massacre ending of this play.

However, what I like the most is not the ending of this play. It's the reactions from Bon Kai residents (ชาวชุมชนบ่อนไก่) who watched this stage play. The chief resident decided to give no comment, saying that he had to attend to some business and walked away from the room. A middle-aged woman said that the gunshots in this play remind her of the time during the May crisis, because she and other residents had to live among the real gunshots during that time. She also said that this stage play reminds her that people really think differently, and it would take such a long time before real reconciliation can happen.

She said this with a crying voice. I'm not sure what she means. I'm not sure if she and other Bon Kai residents like this stage play or not. I'm not sure if I really like this stage play or not. But I like it very much that the staff of this stage play invited the residents of Bon Kai to watch it.

Saturday, September 04, 2010

(Quick and affordable way to waste 15 minutes of your time on the Facebook.List the first 15 movies that pop into your brain as movies you love, movies that moved you or movies that mean something to you.

Tag me back so I can read what you picked and tag 15 others whose choices you'd like to see. Please disregard if you have already been tagged.)

I just got tagged by Peter Nellhaus. Instead of following the rules above, I decided to make a list of some Thai films that I like very much in the past 15 years.

Piyapong, Janenarong, and Tanwarin create very memorable female characters and extremely exciting melodramatic scenes. Who can forget the scene in which the shop owner chases the madwoman away from her shop in PINK LADY, the scene in which the heroine uses her psychic power to make the jealous woman go blind in READ ME!, and the scene in which a transvestite uses a gun to fight with the jealous woman and her gang in COVER?